Ventilating apparatus



A. MARTIN .VENT ILAT ING APPARATUS Dec. 13, 1949 Filed Jari 18, 1946 'l F1922. l

W /7/ /////,W n m v W w. .v W /7%/// fr? ven ar'. ALEX/)M0512 M42 7" V Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED. STATES; italiani-T ),FEig-g 2,4.90,91fiS VENTILATING APPARATUS Alexander Martin, Dedham, Masks., assignor, by resne assignments, to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, a corporation'f- Pennsylvania Application January 18, 19456, erial No, (Cl. 9 8-3f6 2 Claims.

This invention relates to ventilation apparatus, and relates more particularly to apparatus for Ventilating the cabs of overhead cranes.

Smoke and fumes from foundry rooms or other locations in which overhead cranes are used, rise in convection currents into the space where the cabs are suspended. The crane operators are thus exposed to the smoke and fumes, and no satisfactory apparatus has heretofore been devised for preventing same from entering the cabs of the cranes.

This invention makes use of the fact that the overhead cranes usually move alongside a building wall having lower windows or other openings for admitting outdoor air, and provides fans on the bottoms of the cabs, which draw in outdoor air and project same in an air blanket extending around the cabs for preventing the entry thereinto of the contaminated air from the lower work space.

An object of the invention is to prevent contaminated air from the area below an overhead crane, from entering the cab of the crane.

Another object of the invention is to supply fresh air into the cab of an overhead crane operated above an area of contaminated air.

The invention will now be described with refe erence to the drawing, of which:

Fig, l is a view in section, of a portion of a work room, and of an overhead crane supported for operation therein, the cab of the crane being equipped with Ventilating apparatus embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the cab of an overhead crane equipped with another form of Ventilating apparatus embodying features of this invention, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view along the lines 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the work room which may be a foundry room, has a side wall III with a lower window or other opening for the admission of fresh, outdoor air.

The beam I2 of an overhead crane is mounted on the wheels I3 which ride on the rails I4 on the wall supports I5. The cab I5 of the crane is supported from the beam I2 adjacent the wall lil, and when the crane is moved along the rails,

. the cab moves alongside and parallel to the wall Iii.

The casing l1 of the propeller fan I8 isv attached to the bottom of the cab I5, and has an upper portion I9 which extends beyond the cab 2, bottom, on all, sides 'Ijne circular, air outlet apertures 2i! areformed in, and equally spaced around, the casing portion I9.

The fan I8 is driven by the electric motor 22 which is supported from the casing Il by the arms 23.

The fan has the elbow shaped duct 24 attached to its inlet, and which is so arranged so that its air inlet 45 faces the wall I0 in alignment with the openings Il therein.

In operation, the fan I8 draws in outdoor air through the duct 24, and projects the air through the outlets 29 in high velocity air jets providing an air blanket extending around the cab I6, which air blanket prevents the entry into the calo of the fumes and smoke from the equipment located below and to the left, with reference to Fig. 1 of the drawing, of the cab. The air entering the cab is that projected through the outlets 20, and is relatively pure air.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by Figs, 3 and 4, a centrifugal fan 25 is attached to the bottom of the cab I6, and is driven by the electric motor 29. The fan 25 has its outlet 26 connected into the casing 21 which has an outer portion with the outlets 28 therein, extending around the bottom of the cab outside the outer edges thereof.

The axial inlet of the fan 25 has one end of the duct 30 connected thereto, the other end of the duct extending adjacent and facing the openings II in the wall I0, and having the air filter 3l therein. The brace 32 is attached to the cab I6 and to the duct 30 and serves to support the outer end of the duct from the cab.

The casing 21 has the inner, air outlets 35 which open into the interior of the cab It.

In the operation of the embodiment of the invention illustrated by Figs. 3 and 4, the fan 25 draws in air through the filter 3| and duct 30, and supplies it under pressure, into the casing 21. Some of the air enters the cab through the outlets 35, but the larger volume of the air is projected from the outer outlets 28 in an air blanket which extends around the cab I6 and prevents the entry thereinto of the fumes and smoke from the work room.

While embodiments of the invention have been described for the purpose of illustration, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact apparatus and arrangements of apparatus illustrated, as modifications thereof may be suggested by those skilled in the art without departure from the essence of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Ventilating apparatus for the cab of an overhead crane which is movable alongside a vertical wall having an air opening therein below the line of travel of said crane, comprising a fan on the bottom of the cab, a duct extending downwardly and outwardly from the inlet of said fan towards said opening and having an inlet opening substantially in alignment with said air opening, a casing extending around and outwardly beyond the lower, outer edges of said cab, said casing having means in its upper, outer portion for projecting a blanket of air supplied by said fan, upwardly around said eab, and means for guiding the air from the outlet of said fan into said casing.

2. Ventilating apparatus as claimed in claim 1 Y REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,392,870 Fessler Oct. 4, 1921 1,505,914 Witteborg Aug. 19, 1924 1,748,161 Whitmore Feb. 25, 1930 1,774,072 Whitmore Aug. 26, 1930 2,265,112 Davies Dec. 2, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 497,265 Germany May 9, 1930 498,449 Germany May 22, 1930 

